If
you're a regular here, you'll know that the ministry of this
Cathedral rests on 3 pillars, welcome, worship and reconciliation –
with a 4th
pillar the resources necessary to enable the rest...
You
will know, too, that my role as Canon Pastor is to be the “Canon
for Welcome”...not that this means that everyone else can sit back
while I bound about like a demented golden retriever, trying to make
sure that everyone who crosses the threshold knows just how pleased
we are to see them. Welcome is part of what we do and who we are
together – because it's part of what we experience from the God who
draws us here. More of this later...
Of
course if you are
a visitor, even if we've not made it clear yet, you really are very
welcome...indeed, if I had my way, we would have these words, which
have pretty much gone viral since their first appearance at a church
in the States, displayed prominently about the place. Just listen for
a moment, if you would....
"We
extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced,
gay, filthy rich, dirt poor.... We extend a special welcome to those
who are crying newborns, skinny as a rail, or could afford to lose a
few pounds. We welcome you if you sing like Andrea Bocelli or
can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re
just browsing, just woken up, or just got out of jail. We don’t
care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in
church since little Joe’s baptism...We extend
a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and
to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome soccer moms,
choir dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers,
vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery
or still addicted. We welcome you if you're having problems or you're
down in the dumps or if you don't like "organized religion,"
We offer a special welcome
to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down
your throat as a kid, or got lost in traffic and wound up here by
mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers, doubters, bleeding hearts...
and you”
That's
what I'd like us to say....but I'd like us to DO it even more.
Imagine how that church would be – with that wildly diverse mix of
people coming together week by week, living and growing in faith,
hope and love.
Actually,
it might well be very hard work...at times it might even feel a bit
like hell, - but my suspicion is that in fact it would be very like
heaven.
You
see, the Church – as a model of God's kingdom – has never existed
to be a gathering of like -minded people...and there's a reason for
this...Indeed, this is exactly what our epistle celebrates. The
writer, (whether Paul or an anonymous other) begins his letter to the
Christians at Ephesus by thanking God for his grace and foresight in
actually planning our messy human diversity. The whole of Ephesians
is a letter about living together in the midst of human differences,
the author a Jew writing to a largely Gentile audience with the
message that in Christ God has “made both groups into one and has
broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us”
(Ephesians 2:14 NRSV).
BROKEN
DOWN you note. Not so much a process of shared conversations as a
clear imperative to travel together, setting all differences aside
for the sake of the gospel. But goodness, that's hard...very much
like family life, I'd say – particularly when a family is enlarging
to welcome new members.
And
the family? – well, thanks to the Fall, none of us are there as of
right. Each and every one of us has been adopted – with no insider
privileges for those who happened to brought in first. It's such a
powerful image...So often, those who are adopted would otherwise be
without a home, exiled to the margins of society – but through one
positive decision their lives are transformed, as they are given a
new identity and status as members of a real family. In the ancient
world, adoption had an important function – providing the wealthy
with an heir if they were childless, giving the adopted child a name,
a place at the table, and the long-term security of an inheritance
which was a safe-guard for the future.
But
God, never one for the small gesture, chooses to adopt not just an
individual or a small group of siblings – but a people. What's
more, they, we, are already enjoying our inheritance for God has
gifted us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places –
here and now, - though the roots of this adoption are planted at the
very moment of creation, when “God chose us in Christ before the
foundation of the world to be holy...”
Holy.
Set
apart for him
But
though we are set apart – we are not exclusive.
The
language of Ephesians recalls the stories of God choosing Israel, a
people for his own possession, - but now we see that his choice is
not limited, his family not confined to one race or nation, nor to
one time...One commentator remarks that the message of this Scripture
is “You too”...as the writer celebrates God's choice of both Jews
“The first to set our hope on Christ” and Gentiles who “also
heard the word of truth...and believed in him”. There is an
uncomfortable feeling that perhaps if God has chosen these specific
people, then others are in fact excluded. Disquieting words like
“election” may lurk just below the surface,causing us to wonder
just why we have been adopted, what the mystery behind God's grand
plan really is.
But
then we are reminded that our adoption is part of God's GRACE in
action. Remember that old acronym God's Riches At Christ's Expense,
and marvel at how that Grace overflows in every line...because this
wild, extravagant grace excludes nobody. Listen
“With
all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his
will...to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on
earth”
ALL
THINGS...The J B Philips translation puts it like this
God’s
plan is “that everything that exists in Heaven or earth shall find
its perfection and fulfillment in him....”
In
looking forward to the end times, God also looks back to the
beginning, for he will not rest til the whole broken world is
restored and God will look, and see it is very good . We, the Church,
participate in God’s gracious purpose to reunite everything in
Christ. In fact we illustrate it. The community of faith, a model of
reconciliation, projected into God’s future, will be instrumental
in revealing his purpose...”To gather up all things”
That's
what we're for.
To
live the oneness we already have in Christ. That's what it means to
be a reconciled and reconciling people. We will not allow any
differences to disrupt our fundamental unity...both within ourselves
and with the whole of God's people. Our primary identity, our life in
Christ, trumps anything else that might divide or create false
hierarchies. God’s grace establishes a dynamic. This is a living,
bodily, history-shaping movement of God toward the world through and
in the church. In this community is found a new life in which the
fullness God planned from the start is now experienced. A newness not
in utter completeness, but as an “earnest,” a guarantee of the
inheritance.
God
plans nothing less than the gathering of everything into a living
unity with him. And the church is entrusted with a role in this. We
live actively as heirs, enjoying our inheritance, pledged towards our
redemption, and marvelling that God not only expends himself on the
world, but invests in it, in us, too.... In US! God has a stake in us
– and invites US to live so that others may understand this.
Sometimes
we fail wretchedly. We take up arms against one another on the
flimsiest of grounds, as if our God is so fragile that He somehow
needs protecting from aspects of his own creation. We nail our
colours to a whole forest of masts that would blow down in a moment
in the wind of divine mercy.
But
nonetheless, the Church exists to model that living unity.
It
doesn't always look or feel this way, does it, but our Scripture
makes it clear that we START from our unity in Christ as well as
constantly aspiring to its fullest expression. Radical inclusion may
feel alarming – indeed it probably does – but I don't think we
have any choice. If we are going to spend eternity rejoicing that God
has restored all that is broken, each battered, care-worn, sin-warped
soul, we need to start practising that joy here and now.
For
me, there is little good news in a kingdom where the insiders will
inherit an eternity of blessing, while those who are not selected
suffer for all time. In this epistle I read the Christian hope that
God’s plan to set things right will prevail—for everyone and
everything. It is the hope that at the end of all things, all
people and all creation will be restored so that we are all once
again “very good.” - and the cosmos can resound with the praise
of God's glory.
No comments:
Post a Comment